Should we move the retail of waterbeds and adjustable beds from Portsmouth to Chichester? First a brief outline of the business structure.

A short story cut long.

High & Dry Waterbeds had it’s first shop in the Tricorn shopping centre, Some of you may remember it. That was in 1989 twenty two years ago. Electric adjustable beds and nursing care beds were introduced shortly after and so High & Dry Manufacturing Ltd became the umbrella company .

Rather than throwing money away paying rent, High & Dry Waterbeds purchased a retail shop on Milton Road, Portsmouth, and Back Care Beds purchased the shop on Elm Grove, Southsea.

Thirteen years ago we took the decision to merge the two shops for a number of reasons.
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Choosing the QUALITY of your waterbed mattress

We all know that spring and foam mattresses give a relatively short period of supportive life before they begin to sag. A waterbed mattress however can last much longer, cost much less and give better support.

Standard waterbed mattress range:

*made from thinner vinyl than our deluxe range of waterbed mattresses.

*Cut smaller to reduce material cost.

*Made from a lower cost general purpose vinyl.

*Comes with a standard two year guarantee.

*Life expectancy, four years.

Deluxe waterbed mattress range

*£50 More expensive than our standard range of  mattresses.

*Made from thicker vinyl than our standard range.

*Generously cut to fit, ensuring perfect support.

*Made with vinyl specifically developed for waterbed mattresses.

*Comes with a standard five year guarantee.

*Life expectancy, eight years plus.

Why do we sell two qualities of waterbed mattress? (more…)

From time to time we will change the waterbeds in our showroom. We may update our retailers display, or we may take away an unwanted waterbed when a customer is modernising and buying a new waterbed. If the price of a new bed is out of your reach at this time, keep checking our ex-display & used waterbeds list. it is also worth pointing out that you may actually be surprised how low our prices are, visit our build a bed feature.

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This waterbed was fitted last night for a happy customer who previously owned a hardsided waterbed also purchased from High & Dry Manufacturing Ltd. This bed is shown with a four drawer base and Karma headboard. This option is available on our build a waterbed online feature.

There is a choice of four popular neutral colours in this very high quality suedette fabric to really enhance the look of your new waterbed

Olympia Deluxe waterbed

From our build an adjustable bed online feature www.bed-adjustable.co.uk/build-a-waterbed/ Options chosen were; (more…)

This waterbed shown below was installed recently in Hampshire. From our Olymia range, the Olympia Deluxe soft sided water bed is shown with the Karma Hi-Line headboard however you may choose any of our full range of headboards. A drawer unit is a good idea, giving valuable storage. This particular waterbed is shown in 6’ (1.8m) width, this is super king size in English sizes also known as King size in America. Shown with a super motionless one second or 95% stable waterbed mattress 

Olympia Deluxe Waterbed

From our build a waterbed feature https://www.bed-adjustable.co.uk/build-a-waterbed/  Options chosen were; (more…)

What causes a waterbed mattress to smell?

The following advice is based on approximately twenty five years of experience in the waterbed industry, in both the UK and California. Also input from other retailers, The British Waterbed Association and our customer feedback. We are not scientists, so if you are a water bed owner and have beneficial advice or something to add, rather than criticising this advice, please add your feedback.

Over the years a very small percentage of customers have reported a smell from the waterbed mattress. The smell can be described as stale straw. This does not sound too bad, but the smell fills the room and bed clothes. The smell is intolerable and the water bed is no longer usable.

This smell should not be confused with the smell of new vinyl which can be strong for the first few days, but gradually wears off. This is always the case.

A waterbed mattress is made from PVC (Vinyl). The filling to stabilize the movement is polyester fibers. Neither the  vinyl or water bed fiber can produce the smell described above.

The cause of the smell is bacteria in the water. When a waterbed is new, it is filled with water and eight ounces of specially formulated waterbed conditioner are added. This is twice the dose that is required every six months, but will give the water bed mattress a good clean start.

Two causes for the waterbed mattress to start smelling.

First, if the waterbed mattress is several years old and the owner has missed or been late adding the conditioner, then bacteria can start to grow in the water. A waterbed is temperature controlled making it an ideal breading ground for bacteria if conditioner is not added regularly. Also ensure that you take any air from the water bed mattress whenever you hear it as this is annoying and will also encourage bacteria to grow.

You can visit our youtube video to see how to remove air from your waterbed mattress. (This is not a Hollywood production)
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Waterbeds are temperature controlled.

We are back from holiday in freezing cold England.  It is very nice to get back to a warm comfortable bed. As you know waterbeds are temperature controlled, see our waterbed accessories for more details.

Waterbed Heater

If you have an existing hardside or softside waterbed and need to replace the old heater, this can be done without emptying the water mattress. Please read the blog and watch our video.

If you require a replacement waterbed heater you can buy online and we will send by next day carrier.

Every waterbed must have a heater. Without it the temperature of the bed would drop below a comfortable temperature. The heater is low power generally between 220w and 350w
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At High & Dry Waterbeds we pride ourselves on our excellent service. Installations, moves, replacing a waterbed mattress and many other services are all carried out by our servicing department Bed Tech Ltd. We will only employ an installer with several years experience. We will try if possible to arrange the installation around the customer so that they can see everything to do with the bed and so be confident to carry out adjustments and regular maintenance.

Imagine a busy Saturday in our shop, the phone rings and a customer wants to know how to get air out of their waterbed mattress. ofter repeating the same advice to our customers over the phone on how to look after their mattress, we have discovered a simple effective solution and are saving hours each week. For example when we are asked how to repair a leak in a waterbed we can simply go to the  blog and email the information. So we are now looking to add more categories. If you have questions, and would like to see a full explanation relating to waterbeds or adjustable beds, please reply through this blog.

Since we stopped producing the solitaire waterbed combined with an adjustable bed base, we have received far more enquiries from potential buyers.

The Solitaire was specifically designed to be a light weight single waterbed to be used by children or elderly. With the obvious benefits that only a waterbed gives such as no dust mites, perfect for asthma sufferers. Temperature controlled, perfect for everybody, warm in winter and cool in the summer. And comfort, no other mattress supports as well as a waterbed mattress.

Why did we stop producing it?
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VAT exemption for waterbeds. Why not

If you suffer from a chronic medical condition that will be helped by purchasing an electric adjustable bed, you will qualify for VAT exemption. Running at 20% from 4^th January 2011. A significant amount.

If you buy a waterbed which undoubtedly gives far greater pressure relief which can even be a life saver, tough!!! Numerous benefits aided by waterbeds are overlooked by HM Revenues and Customs. Countless times we have tried to get them to bend in cases of extreme disability and need, but that would lose valuable revenue and that is far more important. But, (I know you shouldn’t start a sentence with ‘But’) how short sighted is it to allow VAT exemption on a bloody Vacuum cleaner???? Clears dust mites. Good argument, but a Waterbed doesn’t have dust mites, touché. Can anyone in a position of authority give a backhander to a colleague in the right department to get this amended? We all know how successive British governments work.